, 1887-08-26
GATHERING THE NEWS.
ACQUAINTANCE is THE NEWSPAPER
MANS STOCK IN TRADE.

Getting News Is Like Buyiag Goods.
Certain Persons Who Seem to BE News
Reservoirs-Never Violate Confidence.
A District Man."
] was nlade aware at the beginning of
my six years experience as "A ''district
man" that acquaintance is the stock in.
trade of Il newspaper man. l found that
the next step vas to make friends of
R~cquaiHtnnces, and then to retain their
friendship. This, in connection with a
facuity Of transferring thoughts to paper,
making them readable and acceptable, and
having no scruples against hard work and
plenty of it, which the district man can
find without advertising for it, makes up
the elements to insure success in covering
a district, or, in fact, to insure success in
any branch of newspaper work. 1t has
been my purpose to become known to
every man of note or prominence, all
politicians, all officials, in fact, to every
one in the various towns l cover whose
acquaintance may be of almost inestim-
able worth. 1t is not enough to cultivate
the acquaintance of those representing
the sterner sex. l find it fully as essen
/ tial, and certainly not less agreeable, to be
on cordial terms with femininity, and to
many n female acquaintance am | in
debted for information that has resulted
in columns of acceptable matter. In my
list of acquaintance throughout my dis
trict are, it is safe to say, thousands
among them representatives of every
branch Of the territory's society.
SOMETHING LIKE SHOPPING.
Getting news is not unlike buying
goods. You go to certain stores for GER
tain articles, so l go to certain individuals
for certain kinds of information. AS a
result of the making up of my acquaint-
ance list l know just whom to call upon
personally, by telephone or otherwise, in
any town in the district to enlighten me
upon any subject that may be of public
interest. The quality or class of news de-
sired is the key to the persons to whom
such news would probably be known, and
of whom inquiry should be made. There
are certain persons who seem to be news
reservoirs. Here it may be a hackmRn,
there u barber, in another town n hotel
clerk, elsewhere a trader, but in every
town there is some one person who knows
all that is astir, and it is as much Il part
of the business of the ''district man. to
look up that person and then cultivate his
acquaintance as it is for hin to begin
Tuesday to look Onward with delight to
the arrival of his check Saturday.
The same general principles hold in the
rural districts that are recognized in the
city as prerequisites for news gathering.
Never violate confidence and jump into
print with a story before you informer is
ready to say 'let Ter go.' That has been
with me an infexible rule. On II district
where official information is likely to
come from those met daily year in and
year out, one violation unde such circum-
stances is more h likely to ruin all fu-
ture chances of trust in that quarter. TIT
rule laid down is not adopted as n matter
of eXpediency, but as one of honor, and /
have found that after having gained that
49,. Ia--- --- l.-Nl.. a -
Having travelled over some portion of
my district daily for six years, l have
formed the acquaintance of railroad and
express men, regular patrons of the sew
eral railroads mentioned, telegraph and
telephone operators, all of whom know
my calling, and it is u very common &C.
currence for some one of them to volun-
teer Information. 1t is often the case that
some friend telegraphs me of an important
event, and the receipt of telephone mes
sages that serve me u good purpose is of
almost daily occurrence.
MUST BE A ~"HUsTLER."
By no means do I wish to convey the
idea that IA ''district MANS friends are SO
numerous and obliging that he can sit
around and have his news served up to
him hot without any eXertion on his part.
Quite the contrary. From the nature of
the case and the duties that devolvc upon
| lllll, ne nluSJ nc CONSIDERABLE Ol Il |lUSJ
ler.h He must be his own exchange cd
itor and look carefully after the local pa
pers on his district in order to know what
is fermenting in his multitude of towns;
he is ''on CALI twenty-four hours a day,
and his only regular assignment is 'to
keep his district covered;" in short, he is
expected to let nothing important escape
his attention and TO be first every time in
the race for news. Tn manifestations of
friendliness and consideration to which !
have referred form n goodly portion of the
means by which information is obtained.
1t would be well nigh impossible for
one individual to cover such an extent
of territory as l am supposed to take care
of, and do it thoroughly, were it not for
the voluntary offering of friends, who can
justly claim credit for a part of whatever
success / may have gained. Then, again,
l find that the average drummer is a store
house of information, that he hears OF
much that is going on of which the public
is not aware, and he is n very handy factor
to consider when making up an inventory
of my stock in trade
To sum up briefly, then, what makes
district work successful: A wide circle OF
friends, and, when you wish to reach them
quickly and cannot see them personally, a
telephone line in prime working order,
those friends fully understanding that nc
responsibility will be thrown upon them
for acting as informants.-Frank II. Pope
IN Tho NVrftar